Session 1: The Mission

Session Overview

Creedal Statement

Key Elements

• Key Passage: Jonah 1:1–4:11
• Scripture Memory: Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all peoples. Psalm 96:3
• Catechism: What kinds of people does God want to save? All nations/peoples.

Introduction

He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Psalm 98:3

Missions languish because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is still unobeyed, because the will is not lost by self-surrender in the will of God … Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together, and a low standard in one means a general debility in the whole spiritual being. Arthur T. Pierson, “Building from the Base”

When God mercifully delivers his people from judgment, he simultaneously calls them to participate in his worldwide mission. The life of discipleship intrinsically involves missional engagement—reaching the world with the good news of God’s salvation—because God is a missionary God. God the Father sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to rescue his creation. God the Father and God the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world to dwell within and empower God’s people. And God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit send God’s people into the world to participate in a divine mission that has been unfolding since the beginning of the created world. Core to the very character of God is a holy attribute of redeeming love and saving grace that rescues guilty sinners from eternal destruction. In short, Christians are called to mission because God is a God of mission.

Even though God’s missional character is powerfully evident, there are many obstacles that challenge full engagement in God’s missional work. Although God’s saving work activates people to mission, many disciples struggle to connect their Christian life with Christ’s global purposes. Forgetting what it was like to face the hopeless despair of being separated from God, God’s people can grow so comfortable in the blessings of salvation that they neglect the plight of the unbelieving world. Rather than viewing non-Christians as the oppressed who need to be shown pity and mercy, believers can sometimes view the lost as enemies to be hated. When people experience the joy of God’s salvation and the sweetness of Christian fellowship, they can grow reluctant to interrupt their life of comfort and peace with the difficulty and suffering of missional service. In short, many Christians view the life of discipleship and mission as separate and disconnected from one another.

Despite these challenges, the Bible offers a different picture of the Christian life, one that shows that God saves his people and deploys them in his service. In Jonah 1:1–4:11, the Bible records the true narrative of the prophet Jonah’s ministry. Commissioned to the foreign and evil (and enemy) people of Nineveh, Jonah rebelled against God’s call only to endanger a ship of idol-worshiping mariners. The mariners discovered Jonah’s disobedience had put them in danger and followed Jonah’s own instructions to toss him overboard. Following this stormy moment at sea, God demonstrated his inimitable justice and gracious deliverance by sending a fish to rescue Jonah from drowning at sea. Eventually, Jonah obeyed God’s command (albeit with some reluctance) and preached God’s word in the city of Nineveh. Amazingly, the Ninevites repented of their evil, and God refrained from destroying them. In the end, Jonah expressed anger that God showed compassion to such wicked people.

In many ways, this portion of Scripture helps to orient God’s people to God’s mission in the world. The book of Jonah records God’s call to missionary work. This short Old Testament account about a prophet’s ministry to a violent and evil people emphasizes the ancient origins of God’s mission. As readers reflect on the character of Jonah, this narrative exposes prejudices, fears, and hesitations that handicap global mission. Powerfully depicting God’s character and heart, this biblical story also reveals that God is a missionary God: the sovereign Creator of the universe who holds the whole world accountable in his righteous judgment and is compassionately committed to saving people from all nations. Further, the book of Jonah reminds us of our great motivation for missionary work: God’s gracious deliverance in our own lives is a motivation to share his message with others who face divine punishment. As we read, study, and discuss this story, may God’s Spirit reveal to us the missionary character of our great God.

Biblical Interpretation: Hearing the Word

Study the Text: Christian disciples ground themselves in God’s inspired word. In this movement, you will study the details of the biblical text in order to accurately understand what God’s word says.

Observation Questions

Read (or listen to) the whole passage of Scripture. Discuss the questions below for each section of the story. Pay attention to the details of the text to recall what the passage is saying. Use the focus verses to guide your conversation.

Storycraft

Theological Dialogue: Discussing the Plot

Explore the Text: We grow as Christ’s disciples when we root our lives in the truth. In this movement, you will explore the important teachings of this biblical passage.

Discussion Questions

Have someone in your community share their summary of the biblical story. As a community, discuss the following questions together.

Biblical Commentary

Read the following commentary of the biblical passage. Use this explanation to help gain a better understanding of the biblical narrative and important biblical principles that the passage teaches.

Passage Introduction

Key Idea

God is a missionary God who graciously rescues the nations from his divine judgment.

Passage Overview

God wants people from all cultures, languages, and peoples to experience his saving grace. Christians are God-appointed messengers to announce the good news of God’s salvation to the nations. A message of judgment and deliverance, disciples preach to others what they have experienced themselves. However, like Jonah, many believers find themselves hesitant to participate in God’s global work. Many can resonate with Jonah’s fears, anger, apathy, and resistance to obey God’s call. Grateful for our own salvation, we often overlook the peril and plight of people (near and far) who have yet to repent of their evil ways. The narrative of Jonah confronts our indifference, exposes our ingratitude, and offers us a compelling vision of motivating missionary work. At the core of our participation in God’s global work is a recognition of the character and heart of God. In order to tune our hearts to God’s mission work, carefully read the following commentary to guide you through Jonah’s journey, experiences that helps us understand God’s loving concern for his world.

Missionary Mindset

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love. If I do not love a person I am not moved to help him … if I do love him I wait for no proof of special need to urge me to help him. Roland Allen, The Ministry of the Spirit

Introduction

God is a missionary God with a heart to see the nations turn from their sin and place their faith in the living and true God. This important biblical theme—a theme strewn throughout the whole of Scripture—is a compelling truth about God’s mission to reach his world. When people become followers of Christ, they not only receive God’s salvation but also enlist in God’s service. Particularly, disciples of Jesus participate in God’s global mission because God is “on mission” to reach his world. Budding from a grateful and willing heart, the invitation to mission is a privilege to join as much as it is a call to obey. Nevertheless, God’s people often struggle to fully participate in his worldwide work.

Struggles of missional engagement are numerous. Some people seek to maximize the comfort of their new life in Jesus and neglect the plight of a perishing world. Others maintain sentiments of hatred or animosity toward those who are different, viewing the nations of the world as enemies. Living under harsh and hostile circumstances, some believers hesitate to share the message of salvation with others because of the fear of persecution and opposition. Many Christians remain willing to engage in God’s work but are uninformed about the nature of God’s mission work and specific ways they can participate in this global purpose. Regardless of one’s hesitations, the Scriptures enjoin God’s people to joyfully participate in God’s global cause to redeem people from all nations on earth.

In Jonah 1:1–4:11, we witness the story of a rebellious prophet who defied God’s call, experienced God’s gracious deliverance, eventually announced God’s word to a foreign nation, and struggled to accept the fact that God mercifully forgives all people who repent of their sins and place their faith in him. Through this gripping (and ironic) narrative, we see the overarching theme of God’s missionary heart for the nations: God is a loving and compassionate God who desires to deliver the nations from his just judgment. Through Jonah’s failures, we learn about God’s heart for the world. While Jonah is seen as a disobedient prophet (and eventually a reluctant messenger at best), God is revealed as the true missionary. God looks on the nations of the world with love and grace, desiring that they experience his extravagant offer of salvation. As you journey with Jonah in this tempestuous narrative, may God give you a clear picture of God’s character and an honest look at your own heart.

Arise and Go: Embracing the Compelling Call of God’s Mission

Biblical Narrative (Jonah 1:1–17)

The beginning of this narrative records a divine imperative that enjoins God’s servant, Jonah, to preach to Israel’s enemies (1:1). God commanded the prophet Jonah, “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” (1:2). At that time, Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. It was not only a “great city” because of its size and political influence; it was also “great” because of the serious sin that its people committed. So evil were the Ninevites that their sinful deeds were like a stench that went up before God. Furthermore, the Assyrians were Israel’s enemies. In the not-too-distant future, the Assyrians would defeat Israel and take God’s chosen people into captivity.

One might understand why, instead of obeying God’s command, Jonah fled in the opposite direction. God’s command to preach to the Ninevites was a commission to enter enemy territory and announce God’s word to a people who had defied and rejected God in egregious ways. A rebellious prophet, Jonah arrived at a harbor town of Joppa, where he “paid the fare” (1:3) to board a boat that was heading toward Tarshish. As a prophet, Jonah was expected to obey God’s command, even if it involved delivering a divine message to the enemy Ninevites. When Jonah went to Tarshish, he not only fled from Nineveh but he also fled “away from the presence of the Lord” (1:3).

God did not allow his disobedient prophet to escape his prophetic duty. While Jonah was on the boat, “the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea” such that “a violent storm arose” (1:4). So fierce was this windy storm that “the ship was in danger of breaking apart” (1:4). Fearful for their lives, each of the sailors aboard the boat “cried out to his own god” (1:5) and they threw cargo into the sea to make the boat lighter. While the sailors were overcome with fear and panic, Jonah was sleeping in the lower quarters of the boat (1:5). Not only did Jonah’s disobedience put the sailors in harm’s way, but the slumbering prophet remained withdrawn and indifferent to the sailors’ well-being, asleep in the bowels of the boat.

The captain of the boat confronted Jonah about his disengagement from such an urgent crisis. When life is at risk, should not people appeal for divine help and rescue? Speaking more prophetically than Jonah, the captain of the ship commanded Jonah to “get up and call upon [his] God” in hopes that Jonah’s God would “consider” those on the storm-tossed boat and they would “not perish” (1:6). Although they worshiped false gods, the sailors were demonstrating greater spiritual sensitivity than Jonah. The sailors understood that the storm was an act of divine judgment. In response to this retribution, the sailors “cast lots” in order to “to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us” (1:7). When the lot fell on Jonah (1:7), they asked him about his occupation and identity (1:8). Jonah told the sailors, “I am a Hebrew … I worship the Lord, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9). The sailors were overcome with fear because they recognized that Jonah was at fault for the storm because “he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord” (1:10; cf. 1:3).

As “the sea was growing worse and worse,” the sailors considered what to do “to calm this sea for us” (1:11). Jonah finally recognized that he was responsible for this life-threatening torrent upon the seas and he told the sailors to throw him overboard (1:12). Jonah assured them that this act would cause the seas to calm down. Once they did this, the seas would calm down. At first, the sailors did not listen to this instruction and they “rowed hard to get back to dry land” (1:13). Because the storm continued to grow more severe, they were unable to reach land (1:13). As a result, the sailors pleaded that God would not punish them for tossing Jonah into the water (1:14). They did not want to “perish on account of this man’s life” nor to have God “charge [them] with innocent blood” (1:14). Again, showing more spiritual insight than Jonah, the sailors recognized God had “done as [he] pleased” (1:14). Finally, the men through Jonah overboard and the storm ceased (1:15). Overcome with fear, the sailors “offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to Him” (1:16). God “appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah” (1:17). Jonah remained in the fish’s belly “three days and three nights” (1:17).

Biblical Principles

Greatness of God’s Mission. The book of Jonah orients God’s people to God’s urgent work in the world. With the use of the repeated Hebrew description of “great” (1:2, 4, 10, 12, 16–17) throughout this first chapter (sometimes translated “mighty,” “exceedingly,” “violent storm,” “even more afraid”), Jonah’s opening narrative emphasizes the urgency, importance, and seriousness of God’s mission. In calling Jonah to deliver a prophetic message to a foreign nation, God described Nineveh as a “great city” (1:2) whose evil was so flagrant that it rose up to God. Further emphasizing the importance of God’s mission—and the egregious offense of Jonah’s defiance—God sent a “great wind” (1:4) that caused a “violent storm” (1:12; cf. 1:4) to form against Jonah and the mariners aboard the ship. Encountering God’s power and retribution, the mariners aboard the ship were “even more afraid” (1:10; “greatly afraid”) of God’s judgment. In contrast with the impotence of their false gods (1:5), the mariners “feared the Lord greatly” (1:16) after God calmed the stormy seas. Even though God was just to punish his defiant prophet, God sent a “great fish” (1:17) to graciously deliver Jonah. This “great fish” not only rescued Jonah from his drowning peril at sea but also spared God’s messenger so that the Ninevites could hear God’s message and repent of their sin (cf. 3:1–5). With such a repeated emphasis in this opening narrative, this opening scene of Jonah’s mission highlights the value of people, the severity of sin, the gravity of judgment, the importance of genuine and correct faith, the extravagance of God’s grace, and the significance of God’s mission.

Calling Out to the True God. At the core of Jonah’s narrative is a clear appeal to worship the true and living God. The essence of evil (and what warrants divine judgment) is a rejection of the true God. Certainly, the mariners aboard the ship were very religious. Encountering the threatening storm, “each cried out to his own god” (1:5). These spiritually sensitive seafarers chastised Jonah’s spiritual drowsiness and enjoined him to “call upon [his] God” (1:6). No matter their religious instinct, the mariners’ worship of false gods kept them from God’s deliverance. What was needed was for them to recognize the true God: “the Lord, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9). Sadly, although Jonah clearly explained the identity of the true God (1:9), he was a rebellious prophet who was fleeing “away from the presence of the Lord” (1:3 [2x]; cf. 1:10). At some level recognizing the sovereignty and supremacy of the true God (with very little help from Jonah), the mariners “cried out to the Lord” (1:14), “feared the Lord greatly” (1:16), and “offered a sacrifice to the Lord” (1:16) in a display of gratitude, devotion, and reverence. The actions of the mariners provide a stark contrast to Jonah, highlighting that God’s mission to the world involves calling people from their worship of false gods to the worship of the true God.

Human Guilt before God. Another important theme in Jonah is the coming disaster God sends upon sinful and unrepentant people. God commands Jonah to “preach against” (1:2) Nineveh a message of judgment because of “its wickedness” (1:2). Looking for the offender who brought a tempestuous destruction upon their ship, the mariners sought for the person “who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us” (1:7; cf. 1:8). They are looking for someone “to blame” (1:8). When the mariners realized Jonah had been fleeing from God’s presence, they explicitly exclaimed his guilt: “What have you done” (1:10). Only when things reach a destructive precipice does Jonah admit that he is “to blame for this violent storm” (1:12). Ironically, the mariners seemed to show more concern about offending Jonah’s God than Jonah himself (1:14). Even the mariners’ claim of Jonah’s “innocent blood” (1:14) proved to be more a sign of their own penitent conviction than Jonah’s actual innocence. In this chapter, Nineveh, the mariners, and (even) Jonah faced divine punishment (cf. 1:2, 4) because of their rebellion against God. Ironically, this opening scene emphasizes the reality of human guilt before God. In this way, the chapter forecasts divine punishment that overtakes people who do not turn from their sin and guilt and trust the living and true God.

Divine Deliverance. Although divine judgment looms over guilty humanity, God’s mission for his world involves rescuing erring sinners in a powerful display of divine deliverance. Facing disaster at sea, the mariners eventually hoped in Jonah’s God to deliver them. In this, the mariners ironically spoke the truth about the heartbeat of God’s mission: “perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish” (1:6). Later in the story, the mariners pray, “let us perish on account of this man’s life” (1:14). The hope that God will show his gracious concern upon rebellious sinners is the heartbeat of God’s work. The hope that sinful humans may not perish despite their guilt is the amazing motivation of God’s mission—a mission which teaches us about the loving and compassionate missionary heart of God.

God’s mission is greatly urgent because guilty people cannot escape God’s judgment in their own strength. As the narrative makes explicit, the perilous storm is from the Lord—“the Lord hurled” (1:4) it upon the Tarshish-bound ship. In the face of peril, the mariners “threw” (1:5) cargo from their ship in an effort to escape the judgment the Lord “hurled” (1:4) against them (because of Jonah). Later, they continued their efforts to escape their pending death when “the men rowed harda to get back to dry land” (1:13). In the end, the reality of escaping God’s judgment in their own strength was impossible: “they could not” (1:13). No matter their earnest human efforts “the sea was raging against them more and more” (1:13).

Like the mariners who hurriedly tried to “lighten” (1:5) the weight of their vulnerable seafaring vessel, humans frantically try to “unburden” themselves from pending judgment. Regardless of the intensity or deliberateness of their toil, humans cannot allay or stall God’s judgment through their human efforts. God will bring people to the end of their rope until they call out to him (or reap the disastrous consequences of rejection). It is true that God’s mission is urgent because severe destruction awaits sinners who remain in their rebellious and evil ways. However, the urgency of God’s mission also rests upon the fact that no human effort can escape the mounting tide of God’s just judgment on sinful humans.

Response of Faith, Worship, and Devotion. Although humans are helpless to rescue themselves, God is willing and able to rescue people from divine judgment. God’s work in the world is to call sinful people to faithful devotion to God and to receive God’s gracious rescue. Those aboard the ship were desperate of what to know and what to do in order to be delivered from the tempestuous sea (1:11). While Jonah declared that he did “worship the Lord” (1:9), it was the mariners who displayed a pious reverence toward the Lord. The mariners’ great terror (1:5, 10) turned into deep respect and worship for God when they not only “feared the Lord greatly” but also “offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to Him” (1:16). We may never know if the mariners made a full and complete turn to serve the living God and final rejection of their false gods. However, what we do see in this passage is the response God wants from guilty people—a response that comes quite late in Jonah’s own spiritual journey. God is calling the sinful nations to abandon their false worship, reject their evil lifestyles, acknowledge their guilt, and turn to God in faithful devotion.

Prophetic Calling. God calls his people to deliver his truth to the nations. Although we do not serve God as a prophet in the same sense that Jonah did, the church has a “prophetic work” of speaking God’s truth to a sinful world. Jonah received his missionary vocation by the “word of the Lord” (1:1). Like the prophet Jonah, God’s people are called by God to deliver his message to people who are far from God. Like the God-appointed trip for Jonah, “go to the great city of Nineveh” (1:1), the mission of God will require people traveling to far-off nations and distant peoples throughout the world. Although it is God’s mission, God gives responsibility to his people for his work. When asked a number of questions, Jonah told them about his ethnicity and the God he worshiped, but he did not tell them his occupation (1:8). Further, quite revealing was the fact that Jonah slept on the ship while the mariners feared their death. The contrast is vivid: the mariners faced imminent peril, and Jonah remained apathetically disengaged, asleep in the bottom of the ship. Jonah’s apathetic, negligent, and resistant outlook toward God’s mission is a confrontation of our own attitude toward God’s mission—a neglect of a prophetic and proclamatory calling. Even though Jonah disobeyed God, his disobedience teaches us much about the nature of God’s mission. Jonah’s defiant rebellion and rejection of God’s call reveal the compelling duty of God’s cause. In complete contrast to Jonah’s disobedience put the sailors’ lives were put at risk. Like the probing question the mariners asked Jonah, this passage interrogates us to learn about our “occupation” before God and the world.

Salvation Belongs to the Lord: Experiencing the Core Motivation of God’s Mission

Biblical Narrative (Jonah 2:1–10)

In his goodness, power, and love, God pursued his rebellious prophet. As an act of divine chastisement and preserving grace, God commissioned a large fish to swallow up Jonah. This miraculous act saved Jonah from an imminent death at sea, and it confronted Jonah in his brazen disobedience. For three days and three nights, God confined Jonah to a place where he was obliged to reckon with his vocational defiance in sober self-reflection. During this incredibly vulnerable moment, “Jonah prayed to the Lord his God” from “inside the fish” (2:1; cf. 1:17).

Jonah’s prayer records feelings of distress, confession of God’s salvation, and a renewed devotion to God. Having been tossed overboard into the stormy seas, Jonah was in grave danger. Even though the waters eventually calmed (cf. 1:15), Jonah was exposed to the fierce and unforgiving ocean deep. God’s runaway prophet was adrift in “the heart of the seas” with water surrounding him like a flood as God’s “breakers and waves swept over [him]” (2:3). Jonah attested to his perilous predicament: “the waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head” (2:5). Entangled in seaweed (2:5) and sinking to the bottom of the ocean (2:6)—toward “the roots of the mountains” (2:6)—it seemed like Jonah’s death was certain. Jonah recorded that his “life was fading away” (2:7). So threatening was the deep water (2:3) that Jonah was in great “distress” (2:2). With only steps between him and death, Jonah referred to his situation as being in “the belly of Sheol” (2:2). His end seemed near as the “earth beneath [him] barred [him] in forever” (2:6). Jonah was near death and he thought the waters would be his grave as he drowned in the mounting sea.

With his life in jeopardy, Jonah finally did what the pagan sailors had earlier commanded him to do while he was aboard the boat (cf. 1:6). Jonah “called” (2:2) to God and cried out for help. Unfortunately, Jonah was only eager to do this at a time when his own life was in danger. Still, God “answered” Jonah’s prayer for help and God “heard [his] voice” (2:2), rescuing him from the violent waters. God’s hearing Jonah’s prayer meant that God acted to save Jonah in his desperate plight. Jonah himself testified that God “raised [his] life from the pit” (2:6). God’s merciful rescue of Jonah evidences God’s own gracious character more than Jonah’s pristine piety.

Although Jonah recognized that God “cast [him] into the deep” (2:3) (i.e., as an act of divine judgment), Jonah also confessed with great relief that God alone was also responsible for his salvation—“salvation is from the Lord” (2:9). In an act of judgment, Jonah was “banished from [God’s] sight” (2:4), the origin, source, and preserver of life. However, when Jonah finally “remembered the Lord” (2:7) in prayer, God responded with gracious deliverance. Jonah’s experience of God’s judgment and salvation stirred him to respond “with the voice of thanksgiving” and to offer to God a sacrifice of devotion in which he committed, “I will fulfill what I have vowed” (2:9).

Clearly, Jonah wanted to be a devoted worshiper of God. Jonah confessed his loyal allegiance to God—“O Lord my God” (2:6)—and spoke the truth that “those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion” (2:8). With his life delivered, Jonah knew that he would “look once more toward [God’s] holy temple” (2:4). What he had yet to learn, however, was that God wants to display his gracious deliverance to the very people Jonah despises: the foreign peoples who not only have a different nation and an ungodly ethic, but who worship false gods. God is calling these unbelievers away from their idolatry and immorality to serve the living and the true God. And God wanted to use his reticent prophet, the one who had most recently experienced a renewed taste of God’s judgment and mercy, to deliver this message. At the end of this three-day lesson on God’s mercy, “the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (2:10).

Biblical Principles

Gravity of Human Condition. Because of his disobedience, Jonah was cast overboard into the raging seas. When God rescued him from his near-death calamity, Jonah openly mused about God’s salvation (2:1). In this prayerful address to God—a meditation that was likely deepened and reinforced by three days and nights within a divinely sent aquatic creature—Jonah reflected upon how God graciously rescued him from imminent peril. In his moving prayer, Jonah soberly voiced the gravity of his situation, remembering what things were like when he vulnerably sank into the depths of the violent and unforgiving seas. Overall, Jonah described his experience as deep distress (2:1), meaning Jonah experienced great suffering and deep anguish over what seemed to be a hopeless situation.

Jonah’s misery centered around the fact that his plight looked quite bleak. Jonah was face-to-face with death (“Sheol” [2:1]; “the earth beneath me barred me in forever” [2:6]; “pit” [2:6]), engulfed by bottomless and surging water (2:2), drowning (2:5), entangled (2:5), and sinking (2:6). Jonah faced a death by drowning and a fateful burial with the sea as his tomb. Truly, Jonah’s life was “fading away” (2:7). The waters were powerful enough to “take [his] life” (2:5). Even worse, Jonah lamented the palpable sense of being “banished” (2:4) from God’s presence. Sadly ironic, Jonah’s earlier defiance to flee from the presence of the Lord (1:3, 10) resulted in a punishment that cast and excluded Jonah away from God’s favor (2:4).

Profoundly, Jonah rightly recognized that it was God who “cast [him] into the deep” (2:3). Jonah confessed to God that the raging seas were his “breakers and waves” (2:3). Even though the mariners were the human actors who literally tossed Jonah overboard into the sea (cf. 1:15), Jonah recognized that God was the sovereign cause of his judgment (cf. 1:12). Although subtle, Jonah acknowledged his guilt and God’s holiness and justice. Jonah’s plight at sea was not the capricious and unpredictable whim of a tyrannical deity. Rather, it was the righteous actions of a holy God (2:4, 7). Jonah knew this, and it caused him to call out for deliverance to the very God who caused his torment at sea.

Calling Out to God. Concurrent with lamenting his peril, Jonah also expressed his desperate need for God’s gracious intervention. With great emotion, Jonah called and cried “to the Lord” (2:1). More than mere expressions of pain, these were pleas for divine help. At the time of his great distress, Jonah turned to God for salvation and rescue. Although he recognized God as his judge, he also believed in God as his redeemer. Consequently, Jonah “remembered the Lord” (2:7) and prayed for his help. Near the middle of this prayer, Jonah’s address to God was vocalized: “O Lord my God” (2:6). Now in a position similar to the mariners (cf. 1:4–6), Jonah could no longer remain asleep and unconcerned (cf. 1:6). Rather, God used a painful affliction to awaken Jonah’s concern for those who faced imminent destruction. Jonah’s reticence to call out to God for the well-being of others (in the previous chapter) was in stark contrast to Jonah’s willingness to call out for his own salvation. By allowing Jonah to come to terms with his need for God, God reinforced the desperate and lamentable situation of those who call out to false gods (cf. 1:5). But a hopeful sense is also strung throughout this passage. The true and living God hears the earnest pleas of despairing humanity.

Answer of Salvation. Amazingly, God hears and answers the prayers of people who humbly and sincerely seek his salvation. Jonah acknowledged that God “answered” him and “heard [his] voice” (2:1). Although Jonah faced death, he was able to claim with hope, “I will look once more toward Your holy temple” (2:4). There is hope in the midst of great peril because of God’s character. Certainly, God is a holy God before whom all people must give an account (2:4, 7). Nevertheless, God is also a compassionate and gracious God who extends to desperate humans the “His loving devotion” (2:8). God wanted Jonah to experience a desperate situation in order to create empathy for the spiritual condition of the nations: peoples who are far from God and enslaved to their worship of false gods (represented thus far in the story by the Ninevites and the mariners). One cannot extend to others what one does not possess for himself. Now that Jonah had experienced both a despairing situation and God’s gracious rescue, his attitude should change. To genuinely experience divine redemption should radically transform our care for and obligation toward the peoples of the world—people who are currently outside of God’s gracious redemption because they ignorantly and rebelliously “cling to worthless idols” (2:8).

Faithful Response to God. In response to God’s deliverance, Jonah said that he would offer thanksgiving, sacrifice, and vows to God. Jonah promised to express his appreciation for God’s saving work in his life. In contrast with a previously apathetic and defiant spirit, Jonah’s attitude had been humbled and reshaped with gratitude. Additionally, Jonah wanted to manifest his commitment to God by giving offerings to the God who saved him. Like the mariners who responded with sacrifice and vows after experiencing God’s powerful deliverance (cf. 1:16), Jonah promises to offer sacrifices and make vows of his own. Jonah’s deep gratitude and renewed dedication to God gave birth to a climactic affirmation of God’s salvation. Jonah concluded his prayer with a poignant confession that “salvation is from the Lord” (2:9). This confession was not only a true testimony about Jonah’s personal experience, but it was also a missional manifesto about Jonah’s missionary vocation. God calls people who experience his amazing redemption to become grateful and devoted messengers of this salvation to the surrounding world. In this sense, Jonah’s prayer not only aroused God’s people to a concern to experience God’s salvation, but it also alerted God’s people to their responsibility to participate in God’s mission.

Call and Response: Witnessing the Important Work of God’s Mission

Biblical Narrative (Jonah 3:1–10)

After Jonah’s personal reformation in the belly of the fish, he was newly oriented to following God’s command. God was interested in transforming Jonah in his devotion as much as he was delivering the Ninevites from destruction. Consequently, in close parallel to the first commission, God instructed Jonah, “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.” (3:2; cf. 1:2). In contrast to the first commission when Jonah fled from Nineveh, now Jonah “got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the Lord” (3:3).

God wanted his prophet to deliver God’s message to him because “Nineveh was an exceedingly great city” (3:3). What was the nature of Nineveh’s greatness? Not only was Nineveh large in size, influential in sociopolitical matters, and egregious in its evil (cf. 1:2), but it was also great in its importance to God. Although the people of Nineveh were immoral idolaters, they were valued by God. Therefore, God commissioned his prophet to deliver a divine message to them. At this time, Nineveh was “a three-day journey” (3:4), possibly meaning that it would take about three days to travel around the city. Jonah went into the city “on the first day of the journey” (3:4) and preached to the city-dwellers, “forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned” (3:4). The reluctant prophet who had earlier displayed fearful self-preservation was now being used as a missionary instrument in the hands of God.

In response to this message of judgment, “the Ninevites believed God” (3:5). As a demonstration of their sincere belief, the Ninevites “proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth” (3:5). People from all classes participated in this act of faith and repentance, “from the greatest of them to the least” (3:5). Even the king of Nineveh responded to Jonah’s message. In an act of true humility and penitence, the king “got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (3:6). The king established a decree that everyone (including the animals) should fast (3:7), put on sackcloth as a sign of repentance (3:8), turn to God (3:8), and renounce their sin (3:8). As an act of faith, the Ninevites were to “call out earnestly to God” (3:8); as an act of repentance, each person was to “turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands” (3:8; cf. 3:10). The Ninevites acted in this way in hope that God would not send the judgment that Jonah had predicted. The Ninevites had in their minds that God may “turn and relent” and may “turn from His fierce anger” (3:9). If they turned from sin and God turned from his anger, they had hope that they would “not perish” (3:9; 1:6). The Ninevites did repent and God did respond in a way that the Ninevites had hoped. The repentance of the Ninevites did not go unnoticed: “God saw their actions” of repenting from “their evil ways” (3:10). After observing their repentance, God “relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them” (3:10).

Biblical Principles

Proclaiming a Divine Message of Judgment and Salvation. Importantly, genuine acceptance of God’s truth moves people to share this message with others. God’s mission involves announcing aloud a message (3:1) of judgment and salvation. Having become a recipient of God’s gracious redemption (cf. 2:1–10), Jonah delivered God’s message to the Ninevites (3:2, 4). So authentic was this response of faith and repentance that the king of Nineveh “issued a proclamation in Nineveh” (3:7). Receiving Jonah’s message, the king became a messenger to his own people. He used his influence to enjoin his people to call out to God and repent from their sin (3:8–9). In fact, the theme of “calling out” is dominant in this short passage (also dominant in the previous chapters: 1:2, 6, 14; 2:1; 3:2, 4, 5, 8). God commanded Jonah to “proclaim [lit. “call out”] to it the message that I give you” (3:2). This time “in accordance with the word of the Lord” (3:2), Jonah went to Nineveh and “proclaimed” (3:4; lit. “called out”) a message of judgment. In response, the people “proclaimed a fast” (3:5) and the king issued a public decree (3:7) that the Ninevites “call out earnestly to God” (3:8).

Jonah’s message was a message that God would judge people because of their sin. Through Jonah, God announced that Nineveh would “be overthrown” (3:4). God targeted their destruction because of their “evil ways” (3:8) and “the violence in [their] hands” (3:8). Like the Ninevites, all people face God’s “fierce anger” (3:9) because of their sin. But God delivers a message of judgment, wanting people to turn from their sin and experience deliverance. Even if Jonah’s short proclamation (3:4) represented the totality of what he spoke (essentially a message of judgment), the Ninevites must have understood enough to appeal to God’s compassion and grace so that they would “not perish” (3:9). Confronted with judgment the Ninevites hoped (“who knows” [3:9]) that their repentance (i.e., turning from sin; 3:8) would result in God relenting from his promised disaster (i.e., God turning from his judgment; 3:9–10). God’s mission to the world involves a grave warning about the judgment of sin and a hopeful promise of forgiveness and deliverance.

Faith and Repentance. God extends salvation to those who respond in belief and repentance. Jonah’s message of pending judgment (3:4) moved the Ninevites to respond to God in faith (3:5). This divine message penetrated the highest and lowest ranks of the city (3:5) such that the word even “reached the king of Nineveh” (3:6). This faith in God was manifested by genuine repentance. To show the sincerity of their penitence, the Ninevites fasted (3:5, 7) and put on sackcloth (3:5, 8). Even the king of Nineveh demonstrated great humility and contrition by coming down from his thrown, removing his robe, putting on sackcloth, and sitting in ashes (3:6). Again, this repentance extended to all realms of society. Humans and animals were instructed to fast (3:7) and put on sackcloth (3:8). Announcing this twofold response, the king of Nineveh told his people to call out to God and turn from their sin (3:8). In the face of judgment, the Ninevites did not hold on to the hollow security of their old lifestyles. Recognizing their peril before a holy God, the Ninevites turned to God in a display of faith and in an act of repentance.

A Message for All People. God wants all people to hear his message of salvation. Sending Jonah to the distant people of Nineveh emphasized this reality. Not only was Nineveh far geographically, but they were removed from God’s people socially, religiously, morally, and politically. Through the prophet Jonah, God wanted Israel to reach the nations with this message. Recalling God’s earlier commission of Jonah (cf. 1:2), God emphasized that Nineveh was “an exceedingly great city” (3:3; cf. 1:2). Jonah’s preaching reached Nineveh, “from the greatest of them to the least” (3:5). Again, the response to this message affected the king (3:6), his nobles (3:7), the people (3:5), and even the animals (3:7–8). The message Jonah preached to Nineveh—a double-sided message of judgment and salvation, faith and repentance, reception and proclamation—is a message that all people in the world need to hear: people from all nations, classes, cultures, languages, and generations.

Should I Not Pity: Encountering the Divine Compassion of God’s Mission

Biblical Narrative (Jonah 4:1–11)

After a second commission, Jonah obeyed God and preached to the Ninevites. Surprisingly, the Ninevites repented of their sin and turned to God. Rather than Jonah finding great joy that Israel’s enemies had turned to God, Jonah had quite a different reaction. The Ninevite repentance made Jonah “greatly displeased” and “he became angry” (4:1). Filled with anger, Jonah complained to God. He told God that when he was back in Israel, he thought something like this could happen (4:2). Jonah explained that he fled to Tarshish (4:2; cf. 1:3) because he knew God’s character. Jonah knew that God was “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster” (4:2). This meant that if the Ninevites repented from their sin, God would forgive them. Jonah did not want Israel’s enemies to experience God’s grace of forgiveness. Although Jonah reformed his behavior and obeyed God’s command to preach to the Ninevites (cf. 3:1–4), Jonah had not experienced a deep change in heart. Overcome by the idea of his enemies receiving God’s mercy, Jonah asked God to kill him because he thought it would be “better for [him] to die than to live” (4:2).

God confronted Jonah’s complaint. He asked Jonah if it was right and proper for him to be angry (4:4). Offering this rhetorical question to Jonah (and to us), God was chastising Jonah for his anger. Continuing to lament God’s deliverance of the Ninevites, Jonah made a shelter for himself east of the city (4:5). Jonah sat there in the shade and observed “what would happen to the city” (4:5). At that place, God provided a gift for his sulking prophet: “the Lord God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort” (4:6). In contrast to Jonah’s great displeasure (cf. 4:1), now “Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant” (4:6). True to his divided and self-centered heart, Jonah found joy when he received God-given comfort and deliverance. He was less exuberant about others receiving the same.

At the beginning of the next day, God removed his gift from Jonah. As Jonah remained east of the city, “God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered” (4:7). The comfort, joy, and pleasure of the shade were gone. Further, “God appointed a scorching east wind” that blew against Jonah, and “the sun beat down on Jonah’s head” (4:7). God orchestrated Jonah’s comfort under the shade, and now God orchestrated Jonah’s discomfort under the scorching wind and blazing sun. Jonah should have already known that God is a God of judgment and salvation. He recorded this lesson during his time in the belly of the fish (cf. 2:1–9). However, rather than remembering this lesson, Jonah was so overcome by discomfort that he asked God (again) to take his life (4:8). Jonah’s displeasure and despair at the Ninevite repentance (cf. 4:1–3) is shown for its own ludicrousy as Jonah foolishly displays a similar despair over a withered plant, scorching wind, and blazing sun. Although he was used by God as a successful instrument of salvation in Nineveh, something was seriously wrong in the heart of Jonah.

God confronted Jonah’s errant heart. Having taught Jonah a lesson through the worm-eaten plant, God chastised Jonah for being angry over the plant (4:9). Stubborn and perpetually defiant, Jonah declared that his anger and despair over the plant were justified (4:9). Having the last word, God confronted Jonah’s hypocritical spirit. God explained that the pity Jonah felt over the withering plant could not compare with God’s pity for the Ninevites. (4:10–11). Jonah did not cause the plant to grow, and it only lasted a brief period of time, yet Jonah still felt great concern for the plant (4:10) (mainly because it provided him with shade). In contrast, God created the Ninevites—they were human beings of great worth, and their ignorance of God should be a great reason for pity and mercy (4:11). God asked Jonah a final question to confront his own misplaced affections: “should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well” (4:11) With this question, God not only exposed Jonah’s halfhearted missionary work, but God also exemplified himself as the epitome of compassion and mercy. God is truly a missionary God, who has pity and mercy for those who rebel from him.

Biblical Principles

Heart Motivations. While God wants his people to be about his work, God wants the hearts of his people to be rightly calibrated to his work. In this final chapter, Jonah’s temperamental and irritable attitude is starkly contrasted to God’s merciful and compassionate heart. Jonah’s anger about Nineveh’s repentance (4:2–4) is exposed, displayed, and magnified when he gets angry over the withered plant (4:5–9). Jonah’s despair over the repentance of Nineveh is in stark contrast to the despair God rescued him from when Jonah faced peril drowning at sea (cf. 2:1–9). In this passage, Jonah’s great displeasure (4:1), anger (4:1; cf. 4:4), and (humorously depicted) despair (4:3) are contrasted with Jonah’s great joy (3:6). Jonah was quick to find joy in a shade-giving plant but resistant to celebrating Nineveh’s repentance. Jonah basked in God’s provision to alleviate his discomfort, but he was unmoved by the evil and destruction that confronted the people of Nineveh. Jonah was more concerned about his physical comfort than about the deliverance of the Ninevites. Functioning like a spiritual “looking glass,” Jonah’s ungrateful and (and quite vicious) response to God’s gracious work is a mirror to each of our own hearts. Would we celebrate or bemoan God’s salvation of our enemies?

God’s Character. Serving as a foil to the God of Israel, Jonah’s embarrassing meltdown highlights the superlative character of God. In Jonah 4:2, the self-pitying prophet lamented the very character of God that resulted in the deliverance of Nineveh (cf. 3:9) and his own redemption (cf. 2:8). He confessed that God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. While Jonah was saddened that God treated the Ninevites this way, it is hard to forget that it is precisely these divine characteristics that were the reason Jonah’s life was spared in Jonah 2:1–10. Concluding the chapter (and the whole book), God reminded Jonah that it was right for God to show pity upon the despairing who faced destruction (4:11). Jonah’s self-centered concern for the plant showed his own selfishness (4:10), while God’s extravagant pity for the Ninevites shows genuine concern for the welfare of the nations.

Key Questions. In this passage, there is a series of key rhetorical questions that are asked. These questions in this final chapter offer convicting and probing questions to ask ourselves. Jonah asked God to confirm what Jonah previously said about God’s likelihood of delivering Nineveh (4:2). This question causes us to evaluate what we expect and hope God to do for the nations: Do we lament or long for God’s deliverance of our enemies? When God asked if Jonah was right to be angry concerning Nineveh’s deliverance (4:4), God was also calling us to reflect on how concerned we are for the nations: Do we celebrate or grieve the redemption of people in other parts of the world? When God asked Jonah if it was right for him to be angry about the withering plant (4:9), God was challenging the foundation of our values: Do we value our comfort more than the salvation of the nations? Lastly, God asked Jonah if it was right for him to show pity on Nineveh (4:11). This question challenges the level of pity (or apathy) we have toward those who face God’s judgment. To be rightly oriented to God’s work, our expectations, concerns, values, and sympathies need to take the shape of God’s character.

Conclusion

In many ways, Jonah’s narrative is filled with irony and humor: a fleeing prophet became a reluctant messenger; pagan mariners and violent Ninevites were more responsive to God than Israel’s own prophet; Jonah willingly received God’s compassion to save him drowning at sea (and to provide for him a shade-giving plant) but he did not want this compassion extended to others; and the Ninevite king was more eager to proclaim God’s message than Jonah. The surprising storyline of this narrative is prophetic in its own right, revealing the missionary heart of God and exposing our own resistance to reaching out to the nations.

This biblical narrative is vital for Christian formation. Experiencing God’s salvation is only the beginning of the disciple’s journey. God graciously delivers his people from eternal judgment in order to deploy them into his global work. More than a work to be fulfilled begrudgingly or reluctantly, God wants his people to fuel their work in mission from the compassion, grace, and love they have received from God. Indeed, it is the truth that our God is “on mission” that we have any eagerness (and boldness) to join God’s agenda to announce the message of salvation to all—“from the greatest of them to the least” (3:5).

Session Synopsis

SESSION 1 SYNOPSIS
Missionary God	In this passage, we learn about the nature of God’s missionary heart. God sent his prophet Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, pagan idolaters and enemies of Israel. Jonah disobediently ran away on a ship to Tarshish. God sent a storm on the ship, and the mariners eventually threw Jonah overboard. God rescued Jonah by sending a large fish to swallow him. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish and praised God for his salvation. God sent Jonah to Ninveh again. This time Jonah obeyed God. He preached the message, and the Ninevites repented of their sin and called out to God. Jonah was angry that the Ninevites repented. God confronted Jonah’s misplaced displeasure by temporarily giving him shade from a plant. This passage reveals God’s missionary heart to work salvation among all peoples. A summary of this story’s principles is outlined below.
God’s Missionary Heart	God is a missionary God who cares for all people and plans to redeem a people from all peoples of the world, even those we consider our enemies (1:1–2, 6–7, 17; 3:1–3, 5–8; 4:11). God’s very character makes him a God of mission and salvation (2:8; 4:2, 10–11).
Great Mission Work	The work of mission is a great and urgent work (1:2, 4, 10, 12, 16–17; 3:2–3, 5, 7; 4:1, 6, 11) due to the dignity of people, the gravity of sin, the seriousness of judgment, the importance of faith, and the extravagant grace of God.
Sinful Human Condition	Humans are guilty of sin (1:2, 7–8, 10, 12, 14) and cannot save themselves in their own strength (1:4–5, 13). Humans are sinful in their false worship (2:8) and evil deeds (1:2). Left to themselves, they bear guilt, deserve death, and face judgment (2:1–10).
Divine Calling	God gives his people a divine calling (1:1–2; 3:1–3) to preach the message of salvation to the nations (1:2; 3:2, 4, 6–7). In contrast to Jonah, to participate in a mission is an act of obedience to God (1:3, 10, 17; 2:10; 3:1–3).
Message of Judgment and Salvation	God’s message to the world is a message of judgment (1:2, 4, 6–8, 10–12, 14; 3:4, 8–10) and salvation (1:6, 11, 14; 2:1–10). God is inviting people to call out to God (1:4–6, 9, 14; 2:1, 6–7; 3:5, 8) for salvation and to declare their faith in the true God (1:9; cf. 1:5; 2:8).
Responses to God	God wants people to respond in fear over judgment (1:5, 10, 16), faith in God (3:5–6, 8), repentance of sin (3:5–7, 10), and devotion to God (1:9, 16).
Challenging Heart Motivations	Humans can have wrong motivations of the heart that keep them from participating in God’s mission (1:3, 5; 3:4; 4:2–4, 5–10). Key questions in this biblical narrative challenge our view of God and concern for people (4:2, 4, 9, 11).

Personal Reflection: Entering the Story

Apply the Text: God calls his people to follow what the Bible teaches. In this movement, you will discuss how to apply God’s word to your lives.

Reflection Questions

Encourage one person to share how this story has impacted. Use the reflection questions to examine your life in light of this biblical passage.

Spiritual Practice

Missionary Map

As a community, prayerfully map out the people that God wants you to reach. Consider doing a neighborhood walk to interview the local communities. Regionally, identify the areas of strategic ministry work. Globally, study the demographics, culture, and history of a distant people. After making a map of the people God wants you to reach, write a prayer that asks God to give you God’s heart for these people.

People Focus

Missionary Prayer

Ministry Practice: Rehearsing the Script

Minister the Text:_ God wants us to use his word to edify the Christian community. In this movement, you will utilize this biblical passage to minister to other believers and build them up in their faith._

Reflection Questions

Look at the infographic below. Use the questions to think about how to minister this text to other believers.

Missional Outreach: Publicizing the Truth

Witness the Text: In word and deed, God calls his people to testify about the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. In this movement, you will utilize this biblical passage to reach out to unbelievers.

Reflection Questions

Look at the infographic below. Use the questions to think about how to use this teach to reach out to unbelievers.